Electronic display devices such as LCD flat panel displays are in widespread use in commercial, industrial, institutional and home settings. There is often a need to mount these devices to a wall or ceiling in order to save counter, table or floor space. Numerous specialized mounts have been developed for the purpose of mounting electronic display devices from ceilings or walls. These mounts will often have arrangements of articulated arms in order to enable the display to be positioned in a desired position. Examples of such mounts are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,028,961, hereby fully incorporated herein by reference.
Cables and wires for supplying signal and power to a mounted display device present challenges. These wires and cables are unsightly and it is therefore desirable to conceal them in the mount or in other structures associated with the mount. If the wires are concealed in the mount, however, articulated joints in the mount present a problem in that free movement of the joint must be maintained. Also, pre-fabricated wires, especially video and signal cables, are generally terminated at both ends with molded plugs or connectors, which may be relatively large. While the arms of some existing mounts define wire channels or passages large enough to accommodate the passages of these connectors, the articulated joints generally are configured such that no passage at all is available through the joint, or the passage is so small as to not admit passage of the connector. For these reasons, wires and cables are generally routed externally around the articulated joints in existing mounts, or the wire is fished through the joints and the terminating connectors attached after the wire is in place. This results in unsightly wires and cables protruding from the mounting arms or in additional difficulty, expense and delay in mount installation.
Further, flat panel displays are typically mounted on a structure, such as a wall. Flat panel displays, especially LCD displays, are typically most clearly viewable from a position directly in front of the display. The display image is often too dark or not visible at all if viewed from a significant angle.
It is thus preferable that the angle of a flat panel display can be adjusted for optimum viewing. Various prior art positioning devices have been used, such as friction based hinges, mechanical linkages with springs or other biasing devices, and various mechanical latches. The friction based devices need to be sufficiently strong to hold a relatively heavy flat panel displays, while being easy to operate. Traditional friction based devices and mechanical latches often require one person to hold the flat panel display at the correct angle, while a second person adjusts the device. Movement in the upward direction requires the operator to lift a substantial portion of the weight of the flat panel display. In some instances, the operator must also overcome the resistance of the positioning device.
In order to properly support a flat panel display, a mounting device must also be firmly attached to the wall to which it is mounted. This requires fasteners that make holes in the wall. Thus, to make even a minor horizontal shift of the wall mount and display relative to the wall, an entire new set of holes must be made in the wall. Further, due to the weight of larger flat panel displays, fasteners holding the mount on a wall must typically extend into the wall studs. Since these studs are generally spaced apart at a standard distance such as 12, 16, or 24, inches, the location of a mount on a wall is limited.
The width of the portion of flat panel display mounting devices to which the flat panel display is mounted is sometimes adjustable. This is necessary due to the varying sizes of flat panel displays and, accordingly, the varying locations of mounting apertures for mounting the displays. When mounting brackets of a mounting device that is capable of mounting a wider display are brought closer together for mounting a narrower display, however, the brace arms upon which the mounting brackets slide can stick out beyond the width of the display and be unsightly.
What is needed is an articulated mounting arm for mounting an electronic display device wherein wires and cables can be concealed in the mounting arms and can extend through the articulated joints without exiting the mounting arms. What is further needed is a mount for electronic display devices that accommodates a wide variety of electronic displays and enables quick and aesthetically pleasing installation of the mount and display device.